Individual towel and soap vending machine



March 2 1926.

D` R. MECGREGOR INDIVIDUAL TOWEL AND SOAP VENDING MACHINE Filed July 23 1924 Rochester, in thev county of Patented Mar. 2, 19.26..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

INDIVIDUAL TOWEL SOAP VENDING MACHINE.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, DAVID R. MAGGREGOR,

a citizen of the United States residing at Olmsted and State of Minnesota, have invented certain 'new and useful Im rovements in an Individual Towel and oap Vendin Machine, of which the following is a speci cation. This invention relates to new and useful improvements in vending machines for dispensing individual towels andA pieces of soap and is more particularly adapted to be used in public places such as lavatories, hotels, and the like.

A further object of the invention is to pro- 'vide a vending machine of the above mentioned character, wherein individual towels and pieces Aof soap are dispensed upon the depositing of the Iproper coin in the machine,

the provision of individual towels and pieces o f soap promoting sanitation as well as preventing against the spreading of contagious diseases.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vending machine of the' above men- -tioned character, which is simple in construction, inexpensive, strong and durable and furthermore adapted for the purposes designated.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent during lthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals designate like parts throughout the same: I

Figure 1 is a perspective view of' my imi proved vending machine.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view thereof showing the manner in which the individual towels and pieces of' soap wrapped in the towel are arranged in the machine and the means for dispensing one towel and a piece of soap at a, time.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the machine showing the coin control means in side elevation, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view through the machine showing the towel receiving ,and

supporting compartment and the dispensing meansassociated therewith.

In the drawing wherein for the purpose i of illustration is shown the preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 1/ Application med July 23,

1924. Serial No. 727,740.

desi nates the casing of my improved towel ven ino` machine and the casing is provided in the Tower portion thereof with the delivery compartment 2 from which the towel and a piece of soap wrapped therein may be taken after the proper coin has been deposlted in the machine in the manner hereinafter to beA more fully described. Arranged in the casing l are two. spaced compartments adapted to receive individual towels and pieces of soap wrapped thereinl of dlfl'erent material, the towels in one compartment' being of cloth, such as is usually used, while the towels in the other compartments are formed of paper of the kind now universally known. Each of the towels has wrapped therein a small piece of soap such dividual towels and pieces of soap are of the same construction, the description of one is thought to suffice for the description of both. l

Each compartment comprises a pair of spaced cooperating angular members 5 and 6 respectively which are arranged vertically with respect to the casing and are provided at their lower edges with the bottom portions 7 forming a means for supporting the lowermost one of a number of individual towels and pieces of soap wrapped therein4 which are superimposed upon each other, and are further held in position between `the coacting angular members 5 and 6. The

bottom 7 y of each of the members 5 and 6 is disposed at a point above the delivery compartment and the rear portion of each of the an ular members ad]acent the bottom 7 thereo is cut away as illustrated at 8 for the purposes hereinaftereto be more fully described.

Extending transversely through the casing l and disposed below the bottom of each of the towels and soap compartments is the shaft 9, the same being journaled at its inner end in asuitable bracket -1() supported in the casing 1 in the manner clearly illustrated in Figures 2 and 4 ofthe drawings.v A handle ll'is secured to the outer end of eacl shaft 9 and is disposed ad'acent the respective sides of the casing. ecured to the intermediate portion of the shaft 9 and adapt ed to cooperate therewith is the vertically "extending lever 12, the upper ends being bent rearwardly and being furt-her slightly curved as illustrated at' 13, the same providing a stop for the indlvidual towels and pieces of soap wrapped therein upon the ispensing of one of the towels from thecompartment in the manner hereinafter to be more fully described. A coil spring 14.

is'associated with the lever 12 and the casing 1 for normally holding the same in an inoperative positlon.

Also carried by each of the shafts 9 adjacent the outer end thereof and disposed in the casing 1 is the coin receiving chamber 15, the same being disposed upwardly with respect to the shaft as is clearly illustrated in Figure 3. The coin receiving chamber 15 has a lateral extension 16 formed on the upper forward portion thereof and the same is adapted for cooperation with the shoulder 17 formed on the free endv of the latch 18 which is pivoted at 19 in a suitable bracket 20 supported on' the inner slde of the front wall of the casing. The latch 18 is normally in engagement with the coin chamber in such a manner as to prevent the rotation of the shaft 9 and the dispensing of a towel and a piece of soap wrapped therein from its compartment to the delivery compar ment 2. A coin chute.21 has its inlet end extending into the front wall4 of the casing while the discharge end thereof is disposed directly over the coin receiving chamber 15. The slot for insert,- ing the proper coin whereby a towel and a piece of soap therein may be obtained are illustrated, at 22 and 23 respectively in the drawing with reference more particularly to Figure 1.

In order that a person may readily ascertain Whether or not the vending machine is empty, the front wall ofthe casing is. provided with the opening 24 which are arranged in the lower portion of the casing and in alignment with the towel and,soap compartment. The openings are covered with the transparent pieces of glass 25 which are supported on the inside of the casing and as is clearly illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing, a person may readily ascertain whether or not the compartments are filled or artially filled with the towels and pieces of) soap which 'are to be dispensed.

The operation of my improved towel vending machine may be briefly stated as follows The respective compartments being' filled with the individual towels and `pieces of soap wrapped therein, the proper 'coin is inserted in one of the slots and the coin will be deposited into the coin receiving chamber 15 andl when the coin is in the chamber in the manner shown in dotted lines in Figure 34 of the drawing andthe handle 11 is turned, the coin will release the latch 18 from engagement with the extension 16 and permit the shaft 9 to rotate so that the lever 8 will move between the angular-members 5 and 6 of the compartments from which a towel and piece of soap is desired to beobtained, the upper portion of the lever causing the lowermost towel to rest on the bottom 7 to be discharged therefrom into the delivery compartment 2 and simultaneously the stop 13 will engage the next adjacent towel which is disposed above the towelresting on the bottom 7 causing only one towel and a piece of' soap wrapped therein to be dispensed at one time. When the handle 11 is released, the spring 14 will return the lever to its normal position whereby the remaining superimposed individual towels and pieces of soap wrapped therein to drop to the bottom of the compartment as is obvious from the construction illustrated. The coin chamber 15 will again return to its normal position and have the extension` 16 engaging the shoulder 17 of the latch 18 whereby the shaft is prevented from further rptation until another coin is inserted in the s ot.

As heretofore stated, one of the compartments is adapted to receive individual towels which are preferably of cloth while the other compartment receives towels which are formed of paper and either kind may be had upon the deposit of the proper coin in the respective slots.

The provision of an individual towel vending machine of the above mentioned character, will enable a person to have the use of a clean towel and a fresh piece of soap, thus promoting sanitation and preventing against contagious diseases. A de Whiler I have shown the preferred em' bodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that various changesin the size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having. thus described the invention, what I claim is In a vending machine of the class described, a casing which is substantially rectangular in cross section and has its bottom fashioned to receive the article to be dispensed, an article containing compartment disposed centrally in said casing, said compartment being of a cross sectional area to snugly conline said article, being open at its bottom, having inturned supportingy ledges at its bottom and having its front wall spaced individual i `from the corres onding wall of the casing casing in a position to swing through the i a distance less t an the cross sectional area open bottom of the chamber, said member of said compartment so that the lowermost being of right angular form and being liml article will be forced against the lfront wall ited in its swinging movement by said tem- 5 of the casing /and temporarily suspended porarly suspended article. p

during the period of ejection, and an eject In testimony whereof I aix my si nature. ing member mounted for oscillation in the DAVID R. MAGGRE OR. 

